itch.io

This is similar to my response on the comment beneath you. But the timing makes perfect sense, but the giants have already hogged those spaces, taking thousands of potential participants without even trying and having it automatically featured is a huge kick in the guts for new and fresh scenes to roll in.

This makes a lot of sense, but how would you accurately time a jam though  in these periods as it seems that the giants have already hogged the majority of the community during these times, they have pre planned positioning of their jams and they seem to be featured automatically wiping the effort of the smaller jam host before they get a chance as it is.

Valid response, I still think it is a shame though for those who are putting in endless effort to get things happening.

The title is basically my question.

I've noticed there are heaps of game jams being hosted, but the majority of them seem to end up with only a small number of participants.

Is it just the time of year? Are people too busy to join smaller jams? Do people just prefer staying in their comfort zone and entering the same familiar events? Or is there some trend I'm completely missing?

I come across plenty of jams that genuinely spark my interest, yet they still seem relatively empty.

Then there are the giant jams on itch.io. They always seem to be marked as important, featured on the front page, and attract thousands of entries.

Is that because itch.io benefits from the traffic those jams bring? Are featured jams hand-picked by the site, or is there another system behind it?

What confuses me is that I've seen smaller jam pages with an incredible amount of effort put into them great presentation, clear rules, thoughtful themes yet they struggle to gain traction. Meanwhile, some of the bigger jams seem to throw up a single image, offer no prizes, and still receive thousands of submissions. ( Even though the themes are generic as hell, weather that is on a voting system in discord, a random selection of peoples suggested themes. They are boring and plain. )

I'm not complaining, I genuinely want to understand how it works. Is it purely reputation and momentum, is there a seasonal pattern to participation, or are there other factors that determine whether a jam succeeds?


Not much traffic rolls through the jams section i have noticed, So i am taking my shot at the question here to.

The title is basically my question.

I've noticed there are heaps of game jams being hosted, but the majority of them seem to end up with only a small number of participants.

Is it just the time of year? Are people too busy to join smaller jams? Do people just prefer staying in their comfort zone and entering the same familiar events? Or is there some trend I'm completely missing?

I come across plenty of jams that genuinely spark my interest, yet they still seem relatively empty.

Then there are the giant jams on itch.io. They always seem to be marked as important, featured on the front page, and attract thousands of entries.

Is that because itch.io benefits from the traffic those jams bring? Are featured jams hand-picked by the site, or is there another system behind it?

What confuses me is that I've seen smaller jam pages with an incredible amount of effort put into them great presentation, clear rules, thoughtful themes yet they struggle to gain traction. Meanwhile, some of the bigger jams seem to throw up a single image, offer no prizes, and still receive thousands of submissions. ( Even though the themes are generic as hell, weather that is on a voting system in discord, a random selection of peoples suggested themes. They are boring and plain. )

I'm not complaining, I genuinely want to understand how it works. Is it purely reputation and momentum, is there a seasonal pattern to participation, or are there other factors that determine whether a jam succeeds?

Thank you for the kind words!

Thank you for your kind words!

Thank you very much, the programming was a absolute nightmare, i refuse to look at it ever again. The 3 Day crunch with 0 sleep was not a good idea. although i managed to keep everything mildly findable XD

Hahaha, Before we posted it i had not heard it yet, Zigtail killed it!

It was a really fun additive!

I really enjoyed the movement mechanics and controls that this game had to offer! Very addictive well done!

I really enjoyed the mechanics! The graphics were really well done, the systems felt extremely polished, Great submission, and solo? Brilliant!

The art was brilliant, I liked your voice acting ( The pitch shift was freaky ) Well done overall.

I was in more accidents, then i have ever been in before XD, Great game, and really addictive! Well done!

I am not sure if you are aware, but as of, 30/06/26 at 9:43PM your youtube video link does not work!